No law of accumulation
Enough already! Give it a rest! Stop, please. I can't bear anymore. This is the last straw...
Familiar and useful all. And, who of us hasn't turned to a pest in exasperation with the hope that one of these well-chosen phrases would have its effect?
However, this is being written about something more serious and with the purpose of helping to lift and heal a heavy weight of accumulated evil. At this time the specific cause of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York City is not known. Whatever went wrong, it is a sad and tragic wrong.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the FBI, the airline, and other government agencies are investigating to determine the cause and take future preventative actions.
A preventative step that we can take about this accident and the recent and terrible terrorist acts in New York City, is not to let them accumulate. That is, not to let one tragedy add to another tragedy and to another until the weight of sadness is too much to lift.
The prophet Elijah fled for his life after he defeated the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel swore to take his life (see I Kings, chapter 19). This Old Testament story tells of Elijah escaping into the wilderness beyond Beersheba. He was afraid and depressed to the point of asking God to take away his life. He felt the weight of his people's doubts about their worship of God, and he felt such hatred after he had defeated the 450 prophets of Baal, and he feared for his life at the hand of Jezebel.
In the wilderness under a juniper tree Elijah agonized, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."
But his cry was answered differently: "...as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat." He was lifted and strengthened and was able to go on his journey. Readers may remember the vivid experience that followed when God led him to a cave on Mt. Horeb and presented to him the cataclysmic series - earthquake, wind, and fire. Out of that chaos came the sweet assurance that the Lord was not in the accumulation of earthquake, wind, or fire - followed by the tender words, "and after the fire a still small voice."
Under the ministry of an angel from God, Elijah was strengthened to drop the weight of gathered sorrows and go on serving, healing, and inspiring his people.
This story happened a long time ago, and in a place far distant from New York City. And New York City can't run into the wilderness and sit under a juniper tree. But the brave, indomitable, resourceful people of Manhattan and the Boroughs continue to need our prayers. And, those prayers strengthen and embrace those who send them as well as those who receive them. For all givers and receivers of prayer it is the "still small voice" that Elijah heard that is lifting the burden of grief and fear today.
A more recent prophet, Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of this newspaper, was sometimes brought to her knees along the way in the fulfilling of her life purpose. The attacks on her teachings and healing were misunderstood by a very patriarchal medicine and theology. It was sometimes too much to bear. She wrote about "bleeding footprints" (see "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," pg. 41), but she moved on; otherwise no footprints would have been seen. She spoke of a false law of accumulation formed in the minds of those who opposed her and tried to stop her ministry. But understanding that law as false, she overcame the attempt to heap up attack, betrayal, and disloyalty till it should overcome her.
Her spiritual freedom to know God as Father-Mother, as all-power and presence, prevented a false law of accumulation from harming her. The law of God, of Love, of resolve and restoration acted upon her life and brought it to full fruition. She wrote a sea-changing book on spiritual healing, she founded a fresh and practical way to worship God, and she started this newspaper, all in conformity with the loving law of God expressed so simply as "a still small voice."
